Below are some tidbits on baseball and sportscard collecting.
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Q7: What are some additional useful to know baseball card collecting terms ?

(part 3)High Numbers - vintage cards were issued in the ‘50s-‘70s in a series. During the
baseball season, the largest number of cards were made. As the schedule
progressed into September, when there would be less interest in baseball cards
, Topps for one, specifically decreased production and hence much less product
was available. As a result, a scarcity-factor was created and a premium holds
for these first type of "short-printed" cards.

Inserts - special randomly-inserted cards which are not part of the regular set.
Many modern inserts are sequentially-numbered and rarer than the card sets into which they are inserted.

O-Pee-Chee / OPC - a subsidiary of Topps, this card issue was produced specifically for distribution
in Canada.

Promotional Card - generally referred to as cards issued to show what the product
will look like on release and intended to help spur future sales. Often called
a "promo" card.

Reprint - cards issued to reproduce the originals. With the current trend of
vintage reprints, the new versions have a distinguishing characteristic
evidenced by numbering.

Restored - a card or piece of memorabilia which someone has tried to return to a
"like-new" condition. A restored card is considered to be of very little
value.

Rookie Card - any league-licensed, widely distributed card to feature a player in
his first year of trading cards.

Series - a group of cards within an issue deliberately split up by the manufacturer
to distribute at different times of the year. (i.e.- vintage 1st series cards 1-100 were released in April and 2nd series cards 101-200 were released in July, etc.).

Short Print (SP) - a card printed to a lesser quantity than other cards in a set. Many
recent short prints are also individually & serially-numbered.

The issue below is featured elsewhere on this website:

1974 Topps DECKLE EDGE

This 72-card test issue set was released with a very limited distribution
on only the East Coast around Massachusetts making them quite scarce.
They were Officially simply called "Topps Baseball Photos"
but their serrated or "DECKLED" edge gave them the name they go by today.
The 2 7/8" x 5" inch cards were sold in either a 2 card pack
with gum or a 3 card pack with no gum for 5 cents.

The cards were meant to have the look
of the black and white movie star photos from the 1950's and feature a
black & white photo with a blue facsimilie autograph on the front.
The backs make this very scarce test issue even more interesting !
They feature handwritten script of the player's name, team, position & date
and location of the photograph as well as a mock newspaper article on the
player's career.

This was Topps 2nd "Deckle Edge" issue, their first being their smaller
and much more common 1969 Topps Deckle Edge which were inserts in
certain series of packs of 1969 Topps cards.

Variations of 1974 Topps Deckle Edge do exist,
making this issue even more fun and challenging to collect.
The backs can be found in either gray or a much scarcer white version.
Also, a more limited proof version with non-scalloped edges exists and
occasionally can be found.

1962 Topps Baseball Bucks

Another Hit Topps Test Issue from the 1960's !!!
The 1962 Topps Bucks were one of Topps most creative Test Issues.
Each "Buck" resembled U.S. currency and measured 1 3/4" x 4 1/8" but
instead of George Washington staring at you, it could be Mickey Mantle !!!
A drawing of the player's home park along with a brief write-up
also appeared on the front. The backs included team and league logos.

The 1962 Topps Bucks test issue was sold in it's own 1 cent wax packs and
was not an insert in 1962 Topps wax packs.
Most examples exist with a fold line but it should not be overly noticeable.
Player selection was great as the set is packed with numerous Hall-of-Famers
including MICKEY MANTLE, Willie Mays, Sandy Koufax, Roberto Clemente,
Carl Yastrzemski, Stan Musial, Al Kaline, Brooks Robinson, Don Drysdale,
Ernie Banks, Hank Aaron and more !!!